


Co Je Doma, To Se Počítá

by xxstarcrossed



Series: Kdo hledá, najde [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen, wolf!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-08
Updated: 2012-05-08
Packaged: 2017-11-05 01:49:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/400594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxstarcrossed/pseuds/xxstarcrossed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The myth of secret worlds have been around for centuries. Witches, wolves, vampires and other creepy creatures that crawl through the night were always rumored to exist, but were never exposed. What if, one day, you were exposed to a secret world? What if you became a part of it? What if it was just the beginning?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Co Je Doma, To Se Počítá

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Anyone with their own wiki page is not owned by me. Anything you recognize as a really thing is not mine. I'm simply borrowing people and things as a creative outlet for a plot bunny that would not leave me alone.
> 
> Notes: This is an edited and tweaked version of a weird dream I had back in the middle of February. Months later, and it is now the beginning of a series. I know there are a lot of werewolf stories and wolf verses out there, so I am trying to be as original as possible with this series. This is not a part of any other wolf verse and will not take any other concepts of the other wolf verses and stories you may have read. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> All the titles will be in Czech. Name of the series means "he who seeks, finds." Title of this part literally means "what is home, that counts," but can translate to "what's at home, counts."

The first thing Kristina noticed when she first came to was how everything just felt _more._ She could feel every individual piece of grass below her arms and legs. She could smell the dirt, wet grass, the rain still lingering in the air. She could even smell wet dog not too far away from her. She took a quiet breath, ready to push herself into a sitting position to go back home.

And then the bone deep agony set in, just as she was going to move. She felt like her whole body was on fire. She could hear herself scream, echoing in her head and all around her, just everywhere around her as the pain consumed her whole body. She curled in on herself, not even feeling her tears but somehow just knowing they were falling. All she could feel was every bone in her body being broken, over and over. It was too much for her to handle; she blacked out.

* * *

“Do you think she will ever wake up?” The thought was whispered by one of the youngest of the clan. Jake flinched and tried not to look back in the direction of the room where he knew the newly turned wolf was staying. It was a question that was on a lot of people’s minds, especially as it approached the third day mark of the girl being found in the woods.

Jake felt a hand on his shoulder and he could literally feel the reassurance of Kimmo’s presence. Despite the comfort, Jake couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else in the house could still hear the girl’s agonized screams over and over as they try to go to bed at night.

* * *

“Where am I?” Kris got the nerve to ask one night, watching as a blonde man set down what appeared to be clean bed sheets on the desk by the room’s wide window. She flinched back when he directed his attention to her; she should have just kept her mouth shut and pretended to be asleep or something. His gaze was gentle though, and she felt almost subdued when he was around.

Even though she had flinched back from his gaze, she still watched the man. He was graceful the way that smaller people often were, and it was clear he knew what he was doing and what his limbs were doing. Which, of course she should have recognized because, though he didn’t look old, he didn’t look too young. His body was full of corded muscles, too; she could clearly see how they rippled every time he moved.

“You’re in the Ludok house,” the man stated calmly, quietly, as he sat down in the chair next to the bed. He paused for a moment, just looking at Kris. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “Do you remember anything from the past few days?”

Even though she didn’t really want to do it, Kris found herself thinking back, trying to remember how exactly she did come to be in this ornate room. But there was just a mental break and she whimpered. “All I can remember is pain,” she said quietly, looking up at the man with panic coursing through her veins. And almost by just remembering the fact that there was pain, her body began to ache all over, causing her complete agony.

When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she wanted to jerk back, out of the man’s grasp, but she didn’t. Instead, she felt the pain being pushed away, back into her mind to a point where she felt like she could breathe easily. When she got her breathing under control, she risked opening her eyes. The man was still sitting in the chair next to the bed, but his hand was still extended to touch her shoulder.

“How did you do that?” Kris asked quietly, looking up at the man. She was disappointed that he dropped his hand, afraid that the pain would come back now that he couldn’t do whatever he did do. His hesitation to answer her question was clear on his face.

“We… many of us have special powers.”

“We?”

“Those that live in this house. It is a large house filled with people.” That confused Kris, as he was the only man that she saw but she shook it off.

“So… you all have powers like that?”

There was another pause, Kris and the man just stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments until Kris looked away.

“Many of us have mental abilities, yes. But there are a few in the clan that have physical abilities.”

“Oh,” Kris said, snuggling into the blankets that surrounded her.

“Kristina,” the man said gently, moving into her line of sight. She didn’t know how he knew her name, but she knew it put her at a very unfair disadvantage.  She growled at him, low and deep in her throat. After the sound processed in her ears, Kris sat up straighter, confusion clouding her thoughts. The man looked taken aback for a moment before he… smiled? Half-smiled? Something of the sort. She was too busy wondering why the hell she had just _growled_ to analyze his expressions. “Kristina, this is important. You have to tell me anything that you can remember before the pain. Please.”

“I don’t want to,” she whispered, closing her eyes tightly. She could feel his fingers carding through her hair, gently soothing her.

“I know, I know. But it’s important.” Kris sighed, but did as the man asked. She was whimpering in a matter of moments when she reached the blockade of the pain, but for some reason she was able to push past it this time. Images and thoughts overwhelmed her; images of blood and fur, remembering the smell of wet dog.

It was a gasp that wasn’t her own that broke her from the nightmarish images flashing through her mind, and she curled even tighter into herself, tears falling over her cheeks. She could feel fingers brush over her cheek gently. “Danny, what did she see?”

The next voice was just as close as the first. “She’s going into shock,” came the new voice, just as soothing as the other man’s voice. But this voice had a different inflection, a different accent. Kris could feel herself hyperventilating and she was trying to cling to something, anything, just to not lose it.

But Kris was losing it. She could feel the rapid inhale-exhale system of her lungs, every puff of air as it escaped her lips. She could feel her heart beating harder and harder to keep up with the rapid intake of oxygen. But then she felt warm all over, a feeling both welcome but confusing. She could literally feel the warmth pushing on her fear, pushing it back inside her. She felt suffocated for a long moment before she was able to take a deep breath instead of the short pants of hyperventilation.

“Come on, Kristina, come back to us,” she could hear, like from a far-away tunnel. She could feel a push, kind of like the one that broke her hyperventilation, only it was pushing her towards awareness. She could make out shapes and then there was a face in her line of vision. Kris couldn’t help it; she yelped and scrambled backwards on the bed.

“Come on, Kimmo, you can’t scare the poor girl like that. She’s been through enough the past few days.” Kris turned to look at the new person, wondering what the hell he was talking about and how he would even know what she had gone through. She had never seen him before in her life.

But that wasn’t true; she could see him now, with his face dirt-smudged and kneeling next to her, whispering to her in French. She didn’t understand a word of French, but the language was soothing in a way that she never knew was possible. “You’re French,” Kris blurted out, still staring at the dark haired man. He blinked slowly, before shaking his head.

“I speak French, but I’m not French,” he said, and his voice had the same lilt from the dream. Kris just blinked at him, wondering if she would get further clarification or if she was just going to be confused for the rest of her life. “No, you won’t be confused for the rest of your life,” the man continued, gazing at her. Kris dropped her jaw in shock. “No, you didn’t just say that out loud either.”

“Oh, but I’m the one scaring her,” the blonde man said, and Kris was glad to see that at least sarcasm hadn’t changed in this crazy dream she had somehow fallen into.

“Oh, hush, you’ve already used your powers on her. At least I don’t have to touch her to be effective,” the dark haired man said again, and Kris ping-ponged her head back and forth between the two.

“Okay, seriously, what the _fuck_ is going on?” Kris said, trying not to panic like she was feeling. She hated how those dreams kept replaying in her head like a TV channel. They were going to make her sick.

“They aren’t dreams,” the dark haired man said again, taking one step closer to her. Kris backed herself into the headboard of the bed, making sure she could see both of the men. She folded her arms across her chest, flicking her eyes back and forth between the two. “I’m Danny,” the man offered, thankfully staying put where he was. “And this is Kimmo,” he continued, gesturing to the blonde man. “He explained that this is the Ludok house, yeah?” At Kris’s nod, he continued. “We’re not… a family in the traditional sense. We’re… All of us, even those that you haven’t met, we’re more like a clan. We all come from different backgrounds and different places. Somehow we all ended up here.”

“Who is this ‘we’ though? I’ve only met you two. Where are all these other phantom people?”

“Staying away,” Kimmo said, looking at Kris. She stared back. “They have their orders not to come into this wing of the house without permission.” She furrowed her eyebrows together.

“Is this some kind of weird brothel or slave house or something?” Kris asked, her fear once again creeping up on her.

“No,” Danny said, “no, not at all. Everyone is here willingly. We don’t keep anyone here that isn’t willing to stay.” He made a face at himself, before shaking his head. “We are all like a family here. We call ourselves a clan.”

“But why? What makes you a clan?”

Kimmo and Danny looked at each other for a moment. “She already knows, really.”

“She saw it?”

“She’s in denial,” Danny said, and Kris huffs out a sigh.

“Still in the room. Not asleep or anything either.”

“If you think it’s a good idea…” Kimmo said with a shrug. Danny nodded, almost to himself, before taking a deep breath.

“We’re all werewolves,” he said, watching Kris’ response. She looked between Danny and Kimmo for a moment.

“Okay, now that I have proof that I talk in my sleep, why don’t you tell me the real story?” She continued to smile at them, waiting for the punch line or something. They both stare at her quietly. After a few moments it becomes too eerie, and the smile slips off her face.

“We aren’t joking,” Danny said quietly after another few moments of awful silence. “You know we aren’t joking. You have the proof yourself.” And more thoughts race through her head: the moon, pain, glittering teeth dripping blood, how everything felt so new, so different. _Much differently than things had felt before_ , Kris thought, her panic level rising dangerously. Kris could hear the voices still talking, but they were fading away quickly. She didn’t even try to stay attached to them. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her breathing hitching almost uncontrollably. She let the panic overtake her, falling into the darkness of unconscious.

When Kris woke up, the room was completely dark, without any light coming into the room through the windows. She sat up and wondered if there was a way for her to make a run for it. Not only did her body throb in complete defiance, she knew it wouldn’t be right. These people had helped her in a time where she surely would have died otherwise. They had no obligation to; as far as she was aware, she was just a complete stranger to them. So, with a rumbling stomach, she gingerly stood and stretched her legs, determined to find the kitchen.

Not even ten minutes later Kris was almost in full panic mode, sitting on the floor in a dark hallway, feeling like the walls were closing in on her.

“Hey,” she heard, almost from out of a fog, somewhere in front of her. She looked up to see one of the tallest people standing in the doorway across from her. Kris pressed herself closer to the wall as the boy came closer. He stopped short, studying her for a moment, before extending his hand to her. Despite not knowing who this person was, Kris found herself reacting for the boy’s extended hand.

As soon as their hands came into contact, Kris felt nothing. She felt no emotion, no fear, nothing. In the back of her mind she knew she should be able to feel something, but she just couldn’t. It was almost as if she couldn’t be bothered to feel anything. The boy helped her to her feet and Kris steadied herself using the wall.

“You’re one of the special ones, aren’t you?” she found herself asking, blinking up at the boy, even though it was too dark in the room to see any of his features.

“Where were you going in the middle of the night?” the boy responds, looking over his shoulder into the room he just came from. His voice was surprisingly gentle, though, so Kris was glad that at least he wasn’t angry with her. But before she had a chance to respond, her stomach rumbled loudly. She could feel her cheeks heat up, and she ducked her head as he chuckled a little bit.

“I’ll bring you to the kitchen, if that’s okay?” When Kris nodded, he continued. “I just have to let Jak—Oh, hey Jake. Was just about to come tell you something. She got lost on her way to the kitchen, so…”

Kris moved so she could see the new person in the hallway. He was shorter than the boy, but still taller than her. And she felt a weird sensation as soon as she saw him. She took a couple steps forward, reaching a hand out to the new person. “I remember you.” When he took her hand in his rougher one, it was like a damn bursting. She remembered flashes of things she didn’t understand and she grasped the man’s hand tightly. She watched as various emotions flickered across his face. “You helped me,” she stated finally, her voice softer than ever. The other man just nodded. Kris smiled. “I’m Kristina Bomner. Or, Kris, if you’d like.”

“Jakub Voracek,” the man said, and his voice was just as quiet as hers. “But everyone calls me Jake.”

“And I’m Sean Couturier,” the first boy said, looking back and forth between Kris and Jake. The silence was interrupted by Kris’ stomach rumbling again, and everyone chuckled quietly, though Kris was embarrassed again. She dropped Jake’s hand and backed up a little. “Go back to bed, Seany,” Jake said, reached for Sean’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Sean just nodded and waved to Kris before disappearing into the room again.

“I don’t understand,” Kris started as they walked towards the kitchen, “I’m afraid around everyone else but not you. Why is that?”

“I’m not sure,” Jake said, walking into the dimly lit kitchen and going immediately to one cabinet, beginning to look around. “Do you like cereal?”

Kris just sighed, sitting at one of the stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Cereal’s fine,” she said, folding her arms and putting her head on top of them. It wasn’t until after they were eating that she felt comfortable about bring up the next thing that was bothering her, and had been bothering her since before she passed out. “So… I’m a werewolf.”

“Yep.”

“And… you’re a werewolf?” Kris cringed at how it came out sounding like a question.

“Mhm.” He hummed the sound around a mouth full of Cheerios.

“And so is everyone else that lives here?”

“No,” Jake said, but he didn’t elaborate. Kris sighed to herself and went back to eating her cereal. It was silent while they both finished eating. Kris wanted to ask him so much more, but she just knew that he wouldn’t tell her everything she wanted him to, or even anything at all. Instead, they walked back to Kris’ room; on the way there Kris grabbed his hand, ignoring the way warmth spread through her whole body. She can’t help the overflowing of emotions she felt at the contact; she didn’t want to know if it was just because of Jake or because of some kind of freaky power. She didn’t want to know. She only knew that the comfort was what she needed.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early for Kris. Mostly because someone was shaking her awake. She growled, burrowing her head back underneath the pillows. Whoever was trying to wake her up wouldn’t relent though.

“Go away,” she growled, not having the energy to raise her voice or even apparent threatening in anyway. She felt like she could sleep for a straight week.

“Brayden, what are you doing? Weren’t you told to stay away from this room?”

“Yeah, but—”

“No, no buts. An order is an order. Go to your room. Now.” There was grumbling and stomping which caused Kris’ head to throb painfully.

“There’s no going back to sleep, is there?” Kris found herself asking after a few more moments of trying to go back into the sleek blackness of sleep.

“No, I’m sure you won’t. I think you’ve slept as much as your body can take for the week.” Kris squinted, and she could just make out blonde hair. She blinked and yawned, stretching as she sat up in bed.

“That’s how long I have been here?” she asked, running a hand through her greasy hair.

Kimmo nodded. “You slept for the majority of five days when we first brought you here.”

“We?”

“The Ludok wolves,” Kimmo said, not even pausing before saying wolves. He wasn’t nearly as hesitant as before. He was calm, gazing at her. And even though he wasn’t touching her to change her emotions or whatever other freaky thing he did, Kris still felt relatively calm. “You’re not… still freaking out?”

“I just… I don’t feel anything. It’s like I don’t know how to feel about it. Because I _don’t_ know how to feel about it.”

“Well,” Kimmo said after a moment, sitting on the edge of her bed. “It’s a lot to take in at once. You were thrown into a world that wasn’t meant to be yours. You were never supposed to know it existed.”

“Why was it me then?” Kris couldn’t help but ask, staring at Kimmo. “And where are my parents and my brother? Why did you help me?”

“Shh,” Kimmo said, reaching out a hand to her in a supposed to be calming gesture. Kris shrank back into the headboard. Kimmo sighed, looking away from Kris and out toward the windows. “The Nothar wolves… seemed to have only targeted you.” His voice was gentle, as if by the saying the words softly Kris wouldn’t feel like she had been sucker punched. “The rest of your family… they are okay. But…” He put his hand on the bed, close enough for Kris to reach it if she wanted to. “Your family believes you’re dead.”

Kris didn’t even realize she was crying until Kimmo was right in her face, blurry. He was reaching out a hand to her, and she flinched back again. “No!” Kris shrieked, backing up until she was on the opposite edge of the bed. “I just lost my family, the only family I knew, because of something that shouldn’t have happened to me! You are _not_ going to subdue me with your crazy powers!” She started to cry even harder. She lost her family, her friends; she would have lost her life too if these… _wolves_ hadn’t saved her. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was all some fucked up twist of fate that she was alive but her family thought she was dead. Wouldn’t she just have been better off dead?

* * *

Waking up was one of the hardest things Kris has had to do in the past few weeks, considering she didn’t even remember falling asleep. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up. The room was dark, and she wondered what time it was. “Feeling better?” a voice came from out of the dark, and she jumped in her seat, looking over at where the voice had come from. There was a click and then a little lamp was lit on the bedside table, illuminating Kimmo.

“Yeah,” she said bitterly, rolling her eyes, “I’ve just found out that my parents think I’m dead and I’m a werewolf, and I’m part of a world that I shouldn’t even know about. I’m just peachy.”

Even though she was being a bitch, Kimmo still smiled. “Well now that you’ve gotten some spunk and energy, you should meet the rest of the wolves.”

Kris just blinked at him. “What makes you think I want to?”

“You’re curious,” he stated, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and look at her. Kris couldn’t help it; she could feel her face completely flush. It was worst that she could see her image reflected in the mirror, and she could see just how red she was. She had always been one of the easiest people to read. Kimmo chuckled. “And you’re definitely getting stronger. So when do you want to meet everyone?”

“I… I don’t know,” Kris said, turning her gaze back to Kimmo. “Does this mean I stay?” The words seemed to crash on Kimmo’s face; she watched as it almost literally crumbled. “It’s just… I don’t have anyone else now…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked away, feeling tears stinging her already sore eyes.

She gasped when she was pulled into a hug. “If we weren’t going to bring you into our clan, we would have never bothered saving you from the Nothar clan,” Kimmo said, and she could see in his face when he pulled back that he was being honest. He was quick to step away from her; physical affection didn’t seem to be his forte, Kris could tell.

“I… soon, then. I just… I don’t think I can tonight.”

“No,” Kimmo agreed, “not tonight. Everyone’s curious about you, too, you know. I know Jake will be glad to see you again.”

Kris couldn’t help it, she blushed. Kimmo laughed, and the sound was beautiful. Maybe she could do this after all. Maybe she could become a part of this family. After all, they knew what she was and how to help her through it. What choice did she really have?

* * *

“You need to eat.” Kimmo’s voice was insistent, like a parent would be with their toddler.

“I’m not hungry!” Kris exclaimed, pushing the empty bowl away from her. She was afraid that if she ate anything, she would throw it right back up.

“Morning, Kimmo,” they both heard a sleepy voice say. Kris turned to watch the mused blonde run a hand over his eyes, still blinking sleepily. Kris couldn’t stop her eyes from trailing lower as he scratched at his bare chest, and she felt herself flushing as she turned away. “Oh, hi Kris, didn’t see you there.”

“Morning,” she mumbled, peaking at him through her eyelashes before she walked over to the cabinets along the wall. “Cereal?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the pair.

 “Sure,” Jake said, already sitting at the island. Kris nodded and got a bowl and cereal down, ignoring Kimmo’s eyes burning into her head. It was a routine for Kris and Jake now; whenever they ended up in the kitchen around the same time one would prepare breakfast and they would sit and talk for a bit. Kris was so at ease with Jake now, and even knew which cereal he preferred.

“Any plans for today, Jakub?” Kimmo asked as Kris walked over to the island with the bowls in her hand. Kimmo was leaning in front of him with his signature mug of tea, looking between Jake and Kris. She sat next to Jake and began to pick at the orange she had picked up from the bowl of fruit, just to appease Kimmo.

“Just was going to enjoy the weather,” Jake said around a mouthful of colorful cereal. Kris made a face, just scratching at the orange peel.

Kimmo just nodded, before Danny appeared in the kitchen. “Well, Kris, are you ready?”

Kris pursed her lips together before sighing. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” Before she left, she felt Jake rub his free hand over hers; the calmness she felt because of it was short-lived. Luckily the walk from the kitchen to the living room was a mercifully short one; she wouldn’t have time to let her thoughts get the best of her.

“Stop worrying,” Danny said, glancing at Kris. She was in the middle of him and Kimmo; she was sure they did it on purpose so she had nowhere to run. “You’ll be fine. It’s not an exam.”

“No, it just determines the rest of my life,” Kris quipped, “nothing exactly to stress over.” She ignored how both Danny and Kimmo shook their heads at her.

“It’s not like you’re meeting everyone now,” Kimmo said. “Just the important ones.”

“And there aren’t many of us,” Danny replied in a supposed-to-be hopeful voice. Kris felt anything but. “We don’t want to overwhelm you any more than you want to be overwhelmed.”

“So, where is everyone?” Kris asked, trying, and failing, to get her heartbeat under control. It would have been so much easier if she was a vampire instead. Their hearts don’t beat.

“Vampires don’t exist,” Danny said, and this time Kris saw him roll his eyes at her. “Here they come now.” Kris watched as three men and a woman walked into the room. Kris sucked in a deep breath and held it until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was close to shrugging  it off until she realized that she didn’t feel the calming wave that came over her when Kimmo was touching her. She relaxed into the touch.

“So this is the cause of all our trouble,” the new blonde man said, and Kris flinched, shrinking into herself.

“Christopher,” the blonde woman next to him chastised, “the poor thing looks terrified. Don’t you know any better?” The woman slapped the man in the arm and turned her gaze to Kris, starting to move towards her. Kris shrunk back. “Oh, honey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” She put her hand out. “I’m Lauren, this ass’ wife,” she said, motioning to the blonde man behind her.

“Kristina Bomner,” Kris replied, stepping forward to grasp Lauren’s hand. Unsurprisingly, Lauren pulled her into a hug. Kris surprised herself, though, by hugging back.

“It’s rude not to hug back,” the giant named Christopher said, a smug look on his face. Kris backed up so fast she nearly knocked Danny down. She was surprised by hugging back because she hadn’t been planning on it. She felt someone pulled her hand and Kris went willing into Kimmo’s warmth, already feeling his calming presence. She held his hand tightly until she felt like she could breathe without her throat closing up.

“Prongs, damn it, this isn’t a game,” Danny said, and he actually sounded angry. “She’s not a natural, she’s not used to any of this. She nearly had a panic attack on the way down. Playing your mind games with her isn’t a good idea.”

“Danny’s right, Chris. You didn’t do this before. Don’t do this to her,” Kimmo said quietly, still keeping his fingertips on Kris’ hand. “She didn’t choose this life.”

“Last time I checked, I was Alpha.” The words were laced with warning and Kris shivered, moving closer to the warmth Kimmo was radiating.

“Chris, this is not the time to be exploiting your power,” one of the other men said, stepping into the light of the room. The blonde man closed his mouth; Kris could see a vein pulsing in his head and she looked away. Kimmo just gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Jaro, don’t pull rank,” he said, but it fell to seemingly deaf ears. The man stepped closer to Kris, taking her hand from Kimmo’s and bending to kiss it. Kris could feel a blush bloom on her face, even though her heart was still beating a mile a minute; who even does that anymore? Somewhere behind her Danny chuckled.

“Jaromir Jagr,” the man said, letting her hand fall back next to Kimmo’s. “But Jaro or Jags will be just fine as well.” His voice was heavily accented, and it reminded Kris of someone but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. But his voice was warm, and she almost automatically knew that she would like him.

“And I’m Scottie Hartnell,” the final man said, also stepping into the light. He had a bright smile on his face, and Kris couldn’t help but smile back and give a little wave.

“Nice to meet you both,” Kris said, looking back and forth between Scottie and Jaromir. They both smiled back at her, then turned and began talking to Danny in quiet voices.

“Stop worrying,” Kimmo said, pulling Kris from her thoughts. Kris just shrugged.

“How can I stop worrying about it when the lead—Alpha, thing, whatever—when he doesn’t like me?” Kris sighed, following Kimmo as he walked out of the living room area.

“Because you charmed Jaro, and his word is gold to Chris,” Kimmo replied, bringing them back into the kitchen. Kris still felt anxious; she didn’t know if she wanted to go back up to bed and wallow or do something to forget about what had just happened.

“Are you planning on following me all day?” Kimmo asked after she literally followed his every move in the kitchen. Kris flushed a deep scarlet.

“… Maybe?”

Kimmo just sighed. “You’ve been here for two weeks now; surely you’ve found something to do with your time instead of staying up in your room?”

“It’s just… I keep getting lost,” Kris admitted embarrassingly. But it was so truthful that she was glad when Kimmo didn’t laugh at her.

“You’re still here?” Kris heard instead, and she peaked around Kimmo to see Jake at the island, almost in exactly the same position where they had left him. Surely he would have been done eating by now.

“Just finished Kris’ untouched orange,” Jake replied cheerily, the orange peels surrounding his elbows on the island. Kris couldn’t help but give a slight giggle.

“Well, since you’re still here, would you mind taking Kris and showing her around?” Kimmo said it so nonchalantly, almost as if he wasn’t telling Jake to have Kris tag along with him.

“No,” Kris said, shaking her head. “You’re not going to force Jake to hang out with me. I was just going to sit in my room and read.”

Jake made a face at that. “Oh, no, she’s more than welcome to come. It’ll be good to not be by myself, or with Sean and James.” And then Jake turned and smiled directly at her, and it was useless to even try to say no again. Kris turned her eyes to the tile, grumbling under her breath. “It will be fun, yes?”

“I guess,” Kris said quietly, but neither Jake nor Kimmo paid her much attention. Kris grabbed a glass and poured some water into it before she plunked herself down on an island stool. They both waved as Kimmo left the kitchen.

“How was this morning?” Jake asked eventually, pushing his orange peels into the center of the island and turning to look at Kris. Kris mimicked him, turning to rest her head on her hand.

“Chris hates me,” she stated quietly, glancing back over Jake’s shoulder before looking back into his happy face. “Scottie and Jaro seem great.”

“Scott and Jaro are great,” Jake says with a smile and a nod. “But I’m sure Chris doesn’t hate you.”

“You weren’t there. He looked absolutely disgusted to even be in my presence.”

“You don’t understand, that’s just Chris’ normal face,” Jake stated, and Kris was so surprised all she could do was give a little giggle.

“But he forced me to hug his wife when she hugged me, telling me it was rude not to hug back.” Kris watched as her words were understood by Jake, his face morphing into a strange mix of a grin and grimace, almost as if he didn’t know which feeling he wanted to express. “It isn’t funny!”

“You’re right, it isn’t funny,” Jake said, just as his grin stretched across his face even more. Kris huffed out a breath, standing and finishing her water, putting the cup in the sink. She could hear Jake follow, and then feel him behind her as he put his bowl into the sick right next to her glass. Kris could feel the heat radiating from his bare chest; all she wanted to do was lean back and have him wrap his arms around her waist and –

“You might want to change into something else,” Jake rumbled from deep within his chest, and Kris startled, unable to believe he could make such a deep noise. “We’ll sit outside, and I’ll tell you all about everyone.” Even though Kris didn’t want to talk about the people who lived in the house without even knowing most of them, she was curious as hell. She had only met a handful of people and she knew there was bound to be more. Even though it went against her thoughts, Kris found herself nodding and moving towards the stairs, already starting towards her room.

It didn’t take Kris long to change into something more comfortable, but when she exited her room she was shocked to see Jake leaning against the opposite wall, already changed into a white tee shirt and plaid pants. “We match,” she blurted, looking down at the orange shirt she was wearing and Jake’s orange and white plaid shorts. Jake just laughed, taking her hand before leading her down the hallway.

“The first thing you need to know living here,” Jake stated as they walked into the warm, late morning sunshine, “is that everyone here has their own quirks. We don’t… do things the normal way here.”

“What do you mean?” Kris asked, but she was distracted by the large backyard, which seemed to go on endlessly in the sun. She turned to look at Jake, squinting her eyes against the sun. “What’s the normal way?”

“The… human way. Marriage, love, family, all that stuff. We have our own ideas.” Kris followed Jake as he sat underneath a wide tree, his bare toes wigging against the bright green grass. “You’ll probably have to get someone else to explain it. I’m not too sure about it myself,” Jake continued, his words running together slightly. Kris look at him for a while, before turning back to look at the giant house.

“So how many other people are there?” Kris finally asked, and she could see out of the corner of her eye Jake rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Well, there’s about… tři-a… ah, twenty-three of us. Now twenty-four?”

“Has anyone ever… left?”

Jake took his time answering. “Since I have been with the clan… no one has left. But I’ve heard… stories… of those that have left before.” Jake pauses again, and Kris wants so badly to reach out and take his hand, he just looked so troubled. “But I believe it was their own free will? They weren’t kicked out, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Despite Jake’s obvious unease, he flashed Kris a grin. Kris flushed at being so easily read.

“So… who exactly is in charge?” Kris made a face at her wording. “Or who… I don’t know what I’m trying to say.” She glanced up at Jake to see a giant grin on his face. “Oh, stop laughing at me!” Kris exclaimed, a laugh in her voice.

“Sorry,” Jake said, and it would have been sheepish if not for the shit-eating grin on his face. “But you met all those that are the Alphas and Betas of the clan. Chris is our Alpha; he’s the one that cares for us, really. Well, before…” Jake shook his head. “So Chris is the Alpha, the President if you will.” Kris tried really hard not to laugh at how Jake said president, but it was a near thing. “Kimmo, Danny, Scottie and Jaro are his Betas. Um, they’re the ones that help keep everyone else, especially the new wolves,” this was said with a pointed look at Kris, “in line.”

“Kimmo and Danny are such mother hens, too,” Kris said, leaning against the tree and crossing her arms. “It just makes so much sense that they would boss people around.”

“It definitely does not get worse than those two. But I think it has something to do with…” Jake trailed off, looking uneasy. Kris just rolled her eyes.

“Has to do with their special mind talents, or whatever they are? I do know about them.”

“Oh,” Jake said awkwardly, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Well, since you know what they can do, you understand their need to make sure everything is going well.”

“Yeah…” Kris said, drawing out the one syllable word. When Jake didn’t respond, Kris just shrugged. “So, that’s six people. I’ve met…”

“Sean,” Jake supplied.

“Right, I met him in the hallway. He looked really young.”

“He is,” Jake replied with a nod. “He’s the youngest of all of us; he’s about twenty years old now.”

“I’m twenty years old,” Kris replied absently, looking back at the how to see a few men come out. “Who are they?”

Jake paused, waving as the guys called over to him before continuing on their way. Kris watched them until they disappeared. “They’re probably going to go play some soccer…” Jake said, more to himself than to Kris. “The shorter guy with the dark hair was Zac. The tall guy was James. And the blonde was Brayden. They’re all around our age as well.”

Kris hummed. “Brayden was the one that had woken me up once. He had orders to stay away?” At Jake’s silent nod, Kris continued with her original thought. “There seems to be a lot of young people here.” She couldn’t keep the thought of a young werewolf army from her mind; weirder things had happened before, and at this point she wouldn’t put it past anyone to try it.

Jake just shrugged. “The Ludok,” Kris couldn’t help but smile at the way his voice sounded wrapped around the foreign word, “wolves are the ones that seem to be the most open to outsiders. The other clans in the area… are not as friendly.”

“Like the Nothar clan.” Kris could see the hint of surprise on Jake’s face. “Kimmo told me.”

“Yes, like the Nothar clan,” Jake agreed with a brief pause. “The Ludok clan does things different from other clans, from what I’ve been able to tell.”

“What do you mean?” Kris felt like a broken record, asking Jake to explain what felt like everything to her.

“The Ludok wolves… they create bonds with each other. Some are stronger than others. Some, only death can break.” Kris flinched. “The other clans, they seem almost like…” Jake trailed off, his eyes trained on the back door of the house. Kris watched as an unfamiliar woman and man walked out of the house. They glanced over where she and Jake were sitting, waved, and then continued on their merry way. Kris watched them until they disappeared around a corner, the opposite corner of where the three young men went. They were followed by another couple not half a minute later. The second couple followed the same exact path as the first. Kris just turned to look at Jake, her confusion clearly etched on her face.

“The first couple you saw was Matty and Clancy,” Jake started, not looking at her. He continued before Kris could get a word in. “The second was Braydon and Nadine. Both couples are just recently married.” Jake paused, staring intently at the house. “As long as I can remember, Matty and Braydon were a pair, a team. They were like best friends; they did everything together.”

“They had this bond, thing?”

“Yes, a very strong one. It was curious to see.”

“Were they lovers?” Kris couldn’t help but ask, wondering how the four of them could even work. She was sure there would be jealousy issues, attention problems. Kris could not be in a relationship like that.

“Not that I’m aware of. It goes back to the bonds; they really cannot be broken, from what I’ve been told. If Matty and Braydon were lovers, they couldn’t break the bond. Literally nothing but death would be able to come between them if it was a love bond. Matty and Braydon have… well, they adopted each other as brothers. I believe it’s a family bond they created. And through it, they were able to bond with Clancy and Nadine respectively, through love bonds. And now the four of them are… their own little family within our family.”

“Cute,” Kris said drily, thoroughly confused by the whole thing. “But that doesn’t really explain anything.”

“I know. It’s hard for me to describe.” Jake ran a hand through his hair, leaning back against the tree more comfortably. “I’ve never experienced it so I’m not sure how it works.” Jake looked so frustrated at being unable to explain what he meant, Kris couldn’t help but feel bad. She placed her hand on his on the grass, ignoring the warmth that had nothing to do with the sun in the sky. They sat silently for a while, just enjoying the day. Surprisingly, Kris didn’t feel the need to break the silence like she would with Danny or Kimmo. She just felt content to sit there with Jake and enjoy his presence. Being next to him, even though they weren’t talking, gave Kris the most indescribable feeling. She never wanted it to leave.

* * *

“How’s she doing?” Maxime’s voice floated to Jake’s ears from outside the room, shaking him out of the doze he had been in. Jake shook his head, looking at Kris’ sleeping form once more before stepping out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“It’s hard to tell. All I can read is fear and confusion from her.” Jake ran a hand over his tired face, turning to look at the older man. Max gave him what looked to be a sympathetic face.

“She has no idea, does she?” Max asked gently. Even though the words were vague, Jake had no problem figuring out what Max meant.

“If she does, she’s repressing it. I can’t read it in her at all.”

“Well, remember what happened with Andrej and Matt? Matt repressed it for a while.”

“And then Andrej pretty much attacked him when he went into heat. I don’t want that to happen.”

“It won’t,” Max said, a hint of promise in his voice. “You have far more self-control than Andrej does.”

Jake shook his head. “Self-control doesn’t exist when you’re in heat, trust me. I’ve expressed it far too many times with too many different people. I’m ready to just ignore everyone when it happens again.”

Max just gave a short laugh, musing Jake’s curls. Jake glared at him from the side, but the corners of his lips were twitched up in a half smile.

“Well, you have almost a whole moon until the next moon. Go ask Danny if you’re so concerned.” Jake scoffed, shaking his head.

“No one else needs to know.” Max laughed for real this time, clapping a hand on Jake’s shoulder.

“Jake, everyone already knows. Except for her.” Jake groaned, stopping in front of his door. “Gotta work on that, eh?”

“Yeah, I guess I do…”


End file.
